Friday, June 22, 2012

Waikato Times letter of the month: update

Reader Brian Ougham questions whether the
Ian Brougham quoted as writer of the Waikato
Times letter of the month can be for real. Yes he can, Brian. Yes he can.
Or at least he does exist, which is perhaps not quite the same thing.

Another reader, conspiracy expert Matthew Dentith, confesses himself
similarly baffled by Mr Brougham’s revisions of New Zealand history as most of
us have always understood it. So I have done some research. Via Kiwipolitico,
here is a letter from Mr Brougham to the Wanganui
Chronicle published on 8 July 2011:

Taniwha
real

In
reply to Dusty Miller (letters, July 1), I’m not one of those experts, but I do
believe the taniwha to be real, not imagined, and I’ll tell you why.

Perhaps the ancient Celts of New Zealand
may never have known war or possessed weapons, as prior to Maori being brought
here by Zheng He New Zealand had never been threatened internally nor
externally and there was no need.

However, New Zealand was visited by Viking
ships and Scottish birlinns (a birlinn is similar to a Viking ship) which used
to trade with resident Celts. The sailors of these vessels were fierce,
battle-hardened warriors with far superior weaponry and military discipline
compared with Maori.

As the bow and stern design of these ships
is similar to the head and tail of the taniwha, I could well imagine that the
sight of them would strike paralysing fear into the heart of any Maori
confronted by them, and for this reason I believe the taniwha represents these
ships.

Believing this to be the truth of the
taniwha, I would not think these ships could be found in a small creek or
marshland because of their size.

Taniwha artwork is yet another example of
Maori following the culture of those who came here before them, the Celts.

IAN BROUGHAM

Wanganui

But wait, there’s more. Mr Brougham stood
as a candidate for the OneNZ party in the Whanganui electorate in 2005
and received 214 votes, a fair way behind the successful National candidate,
Chester Borrows, who received 15,846. In 2008 he had a bye.
In the 2011 election, he stood for NZ First and received 1043 votes, still a
fair way behind Chester Borrows who received 16,743.

That’s all I can find, sorry. There is no
mention of Mr Brougham on the NZ First website. How odd.